Uenotaira Castle

History

It is said that Uenotairajō was first built by Minamoto Tametomo in the Late Heian Period. In the Kamakura Period it was the base of the Chiku Clan, vassals of the Suwa Clan. It was once thought that the castle was abandoned by Chiku Nobusada in 1221 following the Jōkyū War, but archaeological investigations in the Heisei Period have determined the castle was used during the Sengoku Period.

Visit Notes

The ruins of Uenotairajō, an earthworks castle classified as a hirayamajō (hilltop castle), consist of dorui (earthen ramparts), karabori (dry moats) and kuruwa (baileys). The castle is situated on a long, projecting foothill with baileys arranged sequentially from the second bailey at the tip of the promontory, onto the first in the center, up to the fourth uphill at the back. Each bailey was separated by a dry moat, but today the first and third moat systems are best preserved. The third moat is how I entered the castle. In the middle it forks off and climbs uphill past the third and fourth baileys. The castle is bordered to the east by mountains, to the west by the plain, and to the north and south by rivers, the Chikusawa and the Terasawa respectively.

dug to prevent attackers from easily entering or moving around a castle. There are also various subtypes depending on the location in the castle and orientation such as horizontal, vertical or across a mountain ridge. There are also subtypes depending on structure like unebori and shouji-bori.

dug to prevent attackers from easily entering or moving around a castle. There are also various subtypes depending on the location in the castle and orientation such as horizontal, vertical or across a mountain ridge. There are also subtypes depending on structure like unebori and shouji-bori.

dug to prevent attackers from easily entering or moving around a castle. There are also various subtypes depending on the location in the castle and orientation such as horizontal, vertical or across a mountain ridge. There are also subtypes depending on structure like unebori and shouji-bori.